Rush Hour 3 & 12
by Agent R
Summary: FINISHED! While on vacation in New York, Carter and Lee are assigned again, they have to watch a 14-year-old stalked by a killer no one's been able to catch, while looking for a rare, valuable gem that disappeared years ago. Very funny, please read and re
1. Default Chapter

Rush Hour 3 & ½  
  
Carter and Lee finally got out of their work in LA with the kidnapping of a diplomat's 11-year-old daughter, their case in Hong Kong when they dealt with Ricky Tan and the money laundering, then they managed to get out of Africa, now they were in New York. And as for Carter, he couldn't wait to kick back and relax,   
  
However, it would be crammed, the apartment they rented was made for only one person, now he had to fit Lee in too. Well, somehow they managed to fix it up for three people.  
  
"Where're you going?" Lee asked, one day after they finished remodeling.  
  
"I'm going to go talk to one of my cousins in town, I'll be back before you notice I'm gone," Carter replied.  
  
"Carter!" Lee yelled.  
  
"What? What? What is it Lee?" Carter rushed back.  
  
  
  
"Nothing, what took you so long?" Lee asked.  
  
"Very funny man, very funny, now look, it's 2:00 now, I'll be back by 3:50," Carter checked his watch.  
  
  
  
"Why be gone so long?" Lee asked.  
  
"Because it's supposed to rain by 4:00 O' clock, that's how come, I wanna get as much enjoyment out of this sorry day as I can, now I'll see you later," Carter walked out.  
  
  
  
"CARTER!" Lee yelled.  
  
"What? What is it?" Carter rushed back again.  
  
  
  
"Just testing, what kept you?" Lee asked.  
  
"Look, from now on, don't call me unless it's an emergency," Carter walked away again.  
  
  
  
"CARTER!"  
  
"What now?"  
  
  
  
"You forgot your cell phone," Lee replied.  
  
After that, Carter left, which was okay for Lee because he got tired of having him around. Shortly after having another 14-year-long feud with his cousin, Carter slowly headed through the middle of town. However, within a few minutes, he began to hear what sounded like a cat screeching, the further he went into the town, the louder it got. In no time, Carter realized that several gang boys were beating on another kid.  
  
  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Carter started to pull out his badge and police I.D, but the kids ran away, leaving the victim standing alone. She looked like a normal kid, she stood about five feet something tall, black, and she had blue streaks up and down her body. The girl didn't say anything, she just turned and ran down the streets, while Carter stood at the scene yelling up at her.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, run away! Just don't forget, it was James Carter L.A.P.D who saved your life!" Carter yelled.  
  
  
  
However, the girl didn't say anything, she just turned her head back for a glance at him one more time before she disappeared into the streets. Carter started to yell to thin air as he walked back to the building, he decided not to tell Lee about what happened earlier; especially since he didn't think it was any of his business in the first place.  
  
  
  
"Carter, where have you been?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"I ain't been nowhere, why?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Because we've got something to do," Lee explained.  
  
"Hold it just a hot diggity dang second, this ain't like last time when we was in Hong Kong, and you didn't have the guts to tell me we were tracking down Ricky Tan is it?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Of course not, this time I'm telling you head on," Lee replied.  
  
"Well that's good, I'd hate to be getting my groove on one second then fall fifteen stories on my butt the next. So what be happening this time?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"This time, we meet Hojun Daneto down by fifteen miles, he has an underground hideout," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Oh joy, does this mean we've gotta be burrowing for fifteen miles?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"No, just follow me, and let me take care of the driving," Lee said.  
  
"Now hold on, the last time I let you take care of the driving here, we found a new home in the junk yard," Carter reminded him.  
  
  
  
"That was your fault," Lee said.  
  
"My fault?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Yes, you too busy being a back-seat driver to tell me, we were heading for garbage truck," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"It don't matter no more," Carter said.  
  
"Exactly, so stop screaming at me," Lee brought up.  
  
  
  
"I'm not screaming."  
  
"You' screaming."  
  
  
  
"I am not."  
  
"You are."  
  
  
  
"No I ain't man."  
  
That continued all the way out to the car, onto the road, down the stairs, and into the hideout.  
  
  
  
"Will you stop? You acting like two-year-old potato," Lee said.  
  
"Oh, fine, you wanna pick up where we would have been if we had known each other as kids? Fine, I'm telling your mommy," Carter shouted.  
  
  
  
"I'm telling your mommy that you bit the neighbor's dog," Lee replied.  
  
"Hey, that wasn't the dog, that was the mother-in-law and she was bugging me anyway," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Silence!" Hojun Daneto stated.  
  
"Sorry Hojun," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"This is the guy? I've seen better in those crappy horror movies," Carter started.  
  
  
  
"Carter, do not get started with me, we are here on serious matters, not for some 'wooshu'," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"You're right, you're right, I apologize, now can we get this over with?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Follow me gentlemen," Hojun walked away.  
  
Lee made a movement on the left side of his mouth.  
  
  
  
"What's that supposed to mean? Oh I get it, it means you go this way and I got that way, right?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"No that means follow me before I choke you with bad looking coat," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Hey! What's the matter with this coat?" Carter asked.  
  
"Be quiet and start walking," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"During the last six years, we have been on the lookout for a serial killer, his name's Leo Abo, he's slaughtered forty-eight people so far, while looking for something very valuable," Hojun explained.  
  
  
  
"Valuable? Like what?" Carter asked.  
  
"That's the problem, nobody ever found out, but we have reason to believe it's a rare 15 oz. emerald with 24ct. gold lining, it carries a 14ct. ruby within the 27 oz. diamond hidden within the emerald. The thing of the matter is, nobody knows what happened to the emerald, it disappeared just recently this year," Hojun said.  
  
  
  
"So what've we gotta do? Look for the gem?" Carter asked.  
  
"Not exactly, you're to look after this person," Hojun loaded a data disk into a super computer system. The holographic figure of a girl came on the screen.  
  
  
  
"Are you kidding?" Carter asked, "I'm an L.A.P.D, what do I want to do with a kid?"  
  
  
  
"We have reason to believe she might be partly responsible for the disappearance of the emerald. She's fourteen years old, who has something in with the L.A.P.D as well, it appears that she just dropped into town," Hojun said.  
  
  
  
"So what've we gotta do?" Carter asked.  
  
"Watch her until we find Leo Abo, don't let her out of your sight at any cost, if Abo finds her, he might kill her and we'll never find out where the emerald disappeared to," Hojun explained.  
  
  
  
"So what you're saying is that we've gotta hijack this kid and keep her with us for who knows how long?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"It appears so," Lee replied.  
  
"I'm L.A.P.D, not a baby-sitter," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"It's either you baby-sit her, or you baby-sit each other while on unemployment. If you don't take this case Carter, I'll see to it that you're no longer a P.D in the L.A or N.Y or anywhere else in the U.S.A, do you understand, F.W.I?" Hojun asked.  
  
  
  
"You can't do that, I'm L.A.P.D, not N.Y.P.D," Carter replied.  
  
  
  
"Me either, I'm from Hong Kong," Lee added.  
  
  
  
"You think that I don't know your employers? All I have to do is give them a bad report on each of you and you're out of a job. Now either you watch this kid or else, do you understand?" Hojun asked.  
  
  
  
"Yes sir," Carter said.  
  
"Mr. Daneto, we might need a regular picture of her to recognize her," Lee brought up.  
  
  
  
"Here's her picture out of uniform, I suggest you don't let your guard down when you find her, she's dangerous," Hojun replied.  
  
  
  
"Allright, what's she look like?" Carter asked.  
  
"It says, 5'4", 115 lbs, 14 years old, black, blue sunburn," Lee read.  
  
  
  
"Blue sun----? Oh hell no, hell no, not that, not that," Carter slapped himself.  
  
"What?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"Shoot Lee, I saw that kid earlier today, I rescued her from a whole pack of gang members today!" Carter screamed.  
  
  
  
"Well don't scream at me for your carelessness," Lee poked him.  
  
"I'm not screaming," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Oh yes you are!" Lee shouted.  
  
As the two walked out of Hojun's hideout, they kept arguing about the girl.  
  
  
  
"Carter, we won't be able to find this girl," Lee said.  
  
"Of course we will. She's got a blue sunburn, out of all the people in New York, how hard can that be to find on one person?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"You would be surprised," Lee replied.  
  
"Allright, I've seen this kid, she doesn't like coming out in the daytime so we'll go look for her at night," Carter thought.  
  
  
  
"Lee, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Carter asked, when they got back to the apartment.  
  
  
  
"You said she was fourteen years old, right?" Lee asked.  
  
"So?" Carter said.  
  
  
  
"So I figure, we might as well make it look like somebody lives here," Lee said.  
  
"Somebody does live here, me!" Carter yelled.  
  
  
  
"I know that, but it doesn't look like there'll be a teenager living here," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"How do you figure?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Carter, if you were a fourteen-year-old troublemaker, would you want to live here?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
Carter kept his mouth shut and looked around the apartment and reached a conclusion.  
  
  
  
"Man, let's trash the place!" Carter said.  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Rush Hour 3, Pt 2

Rush Hour 3, Pt II  
  
"I know that kid ain't going to remember me, so I figured we better use the fool proof method of getting her without causing a disturbance," Carter said as they approached the scene of the crime.  
  
"Carter, I don't think cold blood is all that necessary," Lee replied.  
  
"Not that, we're gonna kidnap her, it's the only way," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Carter, if she is in ca-joots with the police, then I doubt she'll be that easy to kidnap," Lee brought up.   
  
  
  
"She ain't working with the police," Carter argued.  
  
"Yes she is," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"No she ain't, they're just keeping a lookout for her because she's got something to do with the gem that's gone missing," Carter explained.   
  
  
  
"--------Oh," Lee said.  
  
Carter put a sudden stop to the car.  
  
  
  
"What is it now?" Lee asked.  
  
"That's her, that's the girl," Carter pointed.  
  
  
  
"Are you sure?" Lee asked.  
  
"Of course I'm sure, I know a kid with a blue sunburn when I see her," Carter answered, "now let's get her."  
  
  
  
The two sprung out of the car and grabbed the girl, she spun herself upside-down and kicked the two in the head at once. That caused them to drop her on the ground, she tried to get up and runaway, but Carter grabbed her by the arm. The girl punched him in the jaw with her other hand and ran. Lee tried to block off the only way out of there, but the girl kicked him in the mouth and vamoosed.   
  
  
  
"What is the matter with her?" Carter asked.  
  
"Maybe she don't like the idea of being kidnapped by two police officers," Lee suggested.  
  
  
  
"Get going, we've gotta find her," Carter shoved him.  
  
The girl came out of hiding and held something up in her hand.  
  
  
  
"Freeze! L.A.P.D," they heard.  
  
"What?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
The girl threw her I.D at Carter, knocking him on the ground.  
  
"That girl fights dirty! She packed her I.D with a rock!" Carter pulled out a large rock.  
  
  
  
The girl turned and ran away from the scene, leaving Carter and Lee down on their luck.  
  
  
  
"That girl's crazy!" Carter yelled.  
  
"It's no use, she got away, we come back tomorrow and look for her," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"How do you know she'll be back tomorrow?" Carter asked, "Huh? And in broad daylight?"  
  
  
  
"Bad weather," Lee replied.  
  
"What?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"She has sunburn, and people who have sunburn don't come out in the sunlight, in her case, she looks like she enjoys bad weather. The weather people say 'that we get rain tomorrow', she'll come back," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"She just kicked you in the mouth and you talk like she hit you in the head with a rock," Carter replied.  
  
  
  
As soon as they got back to the apartment, they received a phone call from Hojun.  
  
  
  
"Did you get the girl?" he asked.  
  
"No, she got away, we'll get tomorrow," Lee answered.  
  
  
  
"You better hope you get her before Leo Abo does," Hojun brought up.  
  
"What? She is just little girl, what he want with her?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"That's what we're trying to figure out, but we have plenty of potential answers," Hojun answered.  
  
  
  
With that, the conversation ended, Hojun hung up and left Lee looking like an even bigger dummy than he was at the time.  
  
  
  
"What happened?" Carter asked.  
  
"Hojun said that Leo Abo will get her tomorrow if we don't get her first," Lee said.  
  
  
  
Morning came and the two were out to find the girl, of course that meant carrying an umbrella for when it started to rain.  
  
  
  
"There's the place," Lee said.  
  
However, the place seemed pretty empty, nobody around for miles, that was when they heard something snap.   
  
  
  
And wham! The girl fell out of the tree above and into Lee's arms. Without using any words, she already made it clear she was trouble by kissing Lee on the mouth.  
  
  
  
"What are you doing?" Lee asked.  
  
The girl spoke in Chinese, translated she said, "just showing gratitude."   
  
  
  
Lee replied in Chinese, "next time show gratitude to my insides."  
  
"Man, what on earth are you two talking about?" Carter asked in English.  
  
  
  
"Carter, this is the girl," Lee said.  
  
Lee rolled up the girl's sleeve and saw a blue streak.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, no doubt, that's her allright, now look, do you speak any English?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
However, the girl didn't answer him, she just looked at him funny.  
  
"Shoot! I knew this would happen, I hate this! Everytime, I try to relax, the police, have to inform me about another mission. They get me all excited and give me a lemon! Shoot!" Carter yelled.  
  
  
  
"Well Carter, it looks like we're stuck with her," Lee said.  
  
"Allright, look, put your bag in the back and we'll get the hell out of here," Carter said.  
  
  
  
The girl punched Carter in the stomach, apparently she had something against his mouth.  
  
  
  
"Well, in short, it's your mistake and we're stuck with it," Lee smiled.  
  
"Yeah? Just shutup and you translate her to me," Carter said.  
  
  
  
The girl hopped into the back and waited for the clown cops to show up.  
  
"Now look, I've got a few rules for you when we get back to the apartment. Rule number one, no eating the furniture, we're still paying for it, rule number two, no killing anybody in their sleep. Rule number three, no bopping anyone over the head with heavy objects and stealing their clothes, not even the ones they wearing, rule number four, no dumping anybody butt naked into a pan of hot water with salt and pepper," Carter explained.  
  
  
  
Carter looked at the girl as she chewed her gum, looking for a good place to stick it.  
  
  
  
"And last, and certainly not least for you, no taking out your chewed gum and flicking it into my hair," Carter finished.  
  
  
  
The girl took out her gum, rolled it up in a ball, and stuck it on Carter's seat.  
  
"That's much better, now let's get out of here," Carter stuck the key into ignition, "why can't we get a mission with someone who understands English, Lee?"  
  
  
  
Lee shrugged and grinned; Carter backed up and drove out of there.  
  
End of chapter 2 


	3. Rush Hour 3 12, pt 3

Rush Hour 3 & 1/2, pt 3  
  
"Shoot, I just remembered that we gotta keep this kid in our apartment and we don't even know her name," Carter grunted.  
  
  
  
Lee turned around to face the girl, she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, she scribbled something down and handed it to Lee.  
  
  
  
"She says her name is Thorn," Lee said.  
  
"Thorn? What kind of Chinese name is that?" Carter asked, "What's your last name? Bush?"  
  
  
  
Thorn scribbled something else down and handed it to Lee.  
  
"She says her last name is Strong," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"Strong? Man, I ain't never gonna understand you, her, or anybody else on this damn planet," Carter said.  
  
  
  
Thorn reached into her pocket and pulled out a card, she handed it to Carter and said something short in Chinese.  
  
  
  
"What's this?" Carter asked, taking the card.  
  
The card read 'Captain Turmoil Chief N.Y.B.I, New York, New York, P.D Building 3rd floor'.  
  
  
  
"This guy someone you know?" Carter asked.  
  
Thorn replied in Chinese '5th door to the right.'  
  
  
  
"I'll take that as a yes," Carter said.  
  
"Carter, if this girl knows the N.Y.B.I, then how come the F.B.I are looking for her?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"What you getting at?" Carter asked.  
  
"All I'm saying is, why would the Chief of the police and New York Bureau Investigation, know a fourteen-year-old, if something was not up?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"You got a point, allright, we'll dump the girl off at the apartment, then we'll check with Hojun," Carter answered.  
  
  
  
"Hojun." Thorn spoke up.  
  
"Yes, you know him?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
Thorn started speaking in Chinese again about Hojun, and the whole time, she was spitting.  
  
  
  
"Translation please?" Carter asked.  
  
"She said that she knows Hojun, and that she thinks she can point out Leo Abo," Lee answered.  
  
  
  
Thorn looked at him confused, "Leo Abo?"  
  
"Yes, L-E-O-A-B-O," Lee responded.  
  
  
  
Thorn wrote down the letters to the fool's name, and mixed them around.  
  
  
  
"L-e-a-b, ohhhhhhhhhh," she whispered.  
  
"Wait a minute," Carter said.  
  
  
  
He crazily made a U-Turn, drove over the curb and parked right on top of it.  
  
"Carter, what're you doing?" Lee asked as they hopped out of the car.  
  
  
  
"What does it look like I'm doing? I think I just found our crook," Carter said, "come on."  
  
  
  
"Uh Carter, I think we better bring her along too. In the time we're gone she could blow up your car," Lee suggested.  
  
  
  
"With what?"  
  
"C4."  
  
  
  
"Allright, we'll bring her along, but you better stay back, this is police work," Carter told Thorn.  
  
  
  
Thorn put the pad of paper into her shirt and hopped out of the car as well, tailing behind the police.  
  
  
  
"Carter, you don't even know what we're looking for," Lee said.  
  
"I do," Thorn said in Chinese.  
  
  
  
"I know, but how many guys look like Juntao's right hand Sang?" Carter asked.  
  
"You're right, let's go," Lee said.  
  
  
  
All three fools followed each other closely behind the other, Carter with the lead of course. He pulled his head out around the corner of a brick building and saw the man. He was talking with a man resembling Ricky Tan, and two other thugs, (no past character resemblance in either one though). What appeared to be the guy they were looking for handed the leader of the gang something that resembled explosives.  
  
  
  
"Looks like dynamite," Carter said.  
  
Thorn bit her lower lip, she had something to say but she wasn't about to.  
  
  
  
Carter reached for his badge, but instead he grabbed one of his guns, Lee grabbed the gun, and Thorn grabbed his. Carter grabbed another one, Lee grabbed it, so Carter pulled out a third gun, and Lee pulled out his own.  
  
  
  
"Allright freeze! FBI!" Carter yelled.  
  
The four people turned at him with mean eyes, Lee jumped out to help Carter.  
  
  
  
"Freeze, I'm with him," Lee said.  
  
The goons pulled out four guns of their own, they tripped, flipped, and threw Carter and Lee down onto the asphalt. Thorn triggered the gun and stepped out from behind the building.  
  
  
  
"It's allright guys, they're with me," Thorn said in English, "it's L.A.P.D. That's Carter and this is Lee."  
  
  
  
Carter and Lee looked at each other and exchanged confused faces.  
  
"So now all of a sudden you're speaking English on us huh?" Carter asked as they walked back to the car.   
  
  
  
"I'm American you embassy-imbecile, I was born to speak English," Thorn explained.  
  
  
  
"Then how come you were talking Chinese on us earlier?" Lee asked.  
  
"Because, there is a huge difference in not speaking and not being able to speak, in your case, you two look like you like to talk. I like to let people talk who like to talk, it helps make it easier to find out how full of crap they are," Thorn explained.  
  
  
  
"Great, another you," Carter said.  
  
"What's wrong with that?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"Nothing, but I'll tell you what's wrong with trying to arrest the city goons, I know them all by stupidity, they're so dumb cuz they went to a public school. They can't even count to see how old they are," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
Carter sighed and hopped into the car again, Lee hopped in the passenger seat, and Thorn hopped in the back.  
  
  
  
"So Thorn, how do you know Hojun?" Lee asked.  
  
"My mother's brother's cousin's second step half uncle's mother's daughter's niece's sister's daughter used to work with him," Thorn answered.  
  
  
  
"That clears things up," Lee said sarcastically.  
  
"So why in the hell do we gotta watch you anyway Thorn?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Because the F.B.I is out to get me, but it isn't the F.B.I," Thorn replied.  
  
"Yeah, we know, Hojun told us about that, but don't worry, we'll make sure Leo Abo doesn't find you," Carter assured her.  
  
  
  
"He will if that's the case," Thorn argued.  
  
"How can you be sure?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"Because, that's the way he's gotten away with this for six years, Leo Abo as you know him, isn't even his name. His name is Leaboo!" Thorn explained.  
  
  
  
"Well how the hell do you know that?" Carter asked.  
  
"Because, I know who he is, he scrambled his name up so it would spell Leo Abo, that way the police could look far and wide, and they still wouldn't find him," Thorn explained  
  
  
  
"So he knows that you' going to blow his cover and that's why he's out to get you?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"No, he doesn't know, he's out to get me for the emerald," Thorn said.  
  
"Do you know where it is?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"Yes, but I can't tell until he's caught," Thorn replied.  
  
Thorn took out a compact mirror and looked behind her, cold shivers suddenly went down her back.  
  
  
  
"Guys, that's Leaboo back there in the black convertible!" Thorn shrieked.  
  
"What? Moby Dick, that's Leaboo?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
Thorn nodded, Carter shifted the car into hyper speed, he made a crooked U-Turn, and went crookedly up and down. It threw Lee into the back seat with Thorn, only his feet were sticking up, and kicking very heavily.  
  
  
  
"Carter! You're the worst driver I've ever seen!" Lee shouted.  
  
"Lee this is no time to be a backseat driver!" Carter said, making a wrong turn in a one way lane.  
  
  
  
Leaboo sure knew how to catch the people he was looking for, he had a passenger in the car right next to him. The passenger in Leaboo's car took out a bazooka and shot at them.  
  
"Dammit!" Carter yelled.  
  
  
  
"What's going on up there?" Lee asked.   
  
  
  
Thorn stuck her head up, the passenger must've been a hit man Leaboo hired to take them out. Then, suddenly, Thorn got an idea.  
  
  
  
"Lee, take my backpack and duck down, I'm not taking any prisoners," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"What do you mean?" Lee asked.  
  
Thorn shot up with a gun in her hand, she aimed for the hit man and hit him, he rolled out of the car lying on the ground. Then she aimed again and blew out Leaboo's tires.  
  
  
  
"Nice aim, all four of them," Lee said, "Thorn, where on earth did you get the idea to do something that stupid?"  
  
  
  
"I watch a lot of Mafia movies," Thorn answered.  
  
  
  
"You know that gun looks very familiar, where did you get it?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"I stole it from Carter's pocket."  
  
"WHAT!" Carter exploded.  
  
  
  
"Wait a minute, I stole that gun from Carter, I put it in my shoe," Lee said.  
  
"Then that would explain why you're looking shorter," Thorn returned.  
  
  
  
"Man, now I know why Hojun set us up to watch you," Carter exhaled.  
  
Thorn sighed as they headed back to Lee and Carter's apartment.  
  
  
  
"I can't believe this, an apartment that's only big enough for one person, we have to make enough room for two, and now there's gotta be enough room for three people, it's impossible!" Carter complained.  
  
Thorn looked around, "I agree Carter, one of us will have to sleep outside on the windowsill."  
  
  
  
"Glad to know that you see it that way too," Carter grinned.  
  
"Yeah, pack a pillow Carter, you're sleeping out there tonight," Thorn laughed.  
  
  
  
"Shutup you two, we told Hojun we were going to keep you here and we're going to make this apartment big enough for the three of us," Lee said, "whether we like it or not."  
  
  
  
"How?" Thorn and Carter asked.  
  
"We force ourselves if we have to," Lee answered.  
  
  
  
"So now you're going to start repeating me?" Carter asked.  
  
"I wasn't repeating you Carter, we both spoke at the same time, almost as if we were psychic as is done with twins," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"Or people who think alike," Carter added.  
  
"And they also finish each other's sentences," Thorn finished.  
  
  
  
"This is too freaky, I'm going to go take a cold bath, maybe I can wake up from this nightmare," Carter mumbled, slamming the bathroom door.  
  
  
  
"So," Lee started, "wazzup?"  
  
Later, after Carter got out of the tub, he walked back into the living room to find Thorn chewing on a couch pillow.  
  
  
  
"THORN! I thought I told you NOT to eat the furniture!" Carter shirked.  
  
"You did, but you didn't say, not to eat the furniture pillows," Thorn replied.  
  
  
  
"Don't you eat normal food like some chicken wings, baby back ribs, pig's feet and ears?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"I don't eat soul food Carter," Thorn said.  
  
"I didn't say soul food, I said normal food, the next thing you know you'll be telling me you ate Lee's left shoe," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"No, she ate my right one," Lee argued.  
  
Carter screamed out of frustration, then------he got an idea.   
  
"Come with me, I've got an idea," he grabbed Thorn by the arm and took her into the kitchen. He figured that she must eat anything piece by piece, so he tripped her into a chair and grabbed a bunch of food out of the icebox and put it on a tray. "Let's see you screw up eating this," he said, handing her the tray.  
  
  
  
"Carter, we've got news, I just heard Hojun say that Leo Abo-------I mean Leaboo was on the lookout for Thorn. He'll be able to recognize her by her sunburn. Which means, if we go out in public, she's dead meat," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Shit! Does anybody else know about her?" Carter asked.  
  
"A couple of people, but Hojun said that he hired them to keep him informed incase we suddenly became indisposed, or was it decomposed?" Lee responded.  
  
  
  
"Allright look, it don't even matter anymore, I'll go get Thorn and we'll take her down to see Hojun and see what we have to do next," Carter suggested, "Just get up, and let's go, we've gotta go meet with Hojun."  
  
End of chapter 3 


	4. Rush Hour 3 &12, chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
A/N: Here's chapter 4, sorry for the delay and thanks to Dawnspirit for making me realize I was behind on the story.  
  
Back in the underground hideout.  
  
  
  
"Man, this place just get crappier by the minute!" Carter complained.  
  
"Shutup and move," Lee said, grabbing Carter by his necktie.  
  
  
  
"Hojun," Thorn said.  
  
"Nice to see that you're still alive Thorn, for many people it has been an impossibility to escape Leaboo," Hojun turned around.  
  
  
  
"Believe me, it wasn't easy," Lee returned.  
  
"Shutup!" Carter said.  
  
  
  
"So, what've we gotta do until Leaboo's caught?" Thorn asked.  
  
"You have to keep an eye on the emerald, wherever it is, you know very well why Leaboo's after it," Hojun told her.  
  
  
  
"Got it, I know where it is and it ain't leaving," Thorn replied.  
  
"Thorn, go with Marie for a moment, these two will catch up with you in a minute," Hojun said.  
  
  
  
"Shoot, what's up Hojun?" Carter asked.  
  
"A word of advice Carter, try and keep your patience with Thorn, she does not like strangers and will normally do anything to get them out of her life," Hojun advised them.  
  
  
  
"Hojun, I have been around many a children before, they always act that way," Lee said, "it's part of being a juvenile 'deliquence."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, they always do that," Carter said.  
  
"Not like she will, I know, she attempted anything and everything when I watched her to get rid of me," Hojun explained.  
  
  
  
"You watched her?" Lee asked.  
  
"Shortly after Leaboo disappeared the last time we saw him, that was several years ago, and through times, she has just gotten worse, so I wish you good luck. The both of you will need it after you get back with her tonight," Hojun said.  
  
  
  
"You really think so?" Carter asked.  
  
"I know so," he replied.  
  
  
  
"Yeah? Well I think I can handle a 14-year-old girl by myself, without your help, let's grab the kid and go, Lee," Carter said.  
  
  
  
So, they grabbed Thorn and took her back to the apartment, however, it appeared that Hojun was wrong about her. She fell down on the couch and dozed off.  
  
  
  
"About time too, she's been getting on my damn nerves all day," Carter complained.  
  
  
  
"If that's the case, then just think of how she'll be tonight when she wakes up," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"By the time she wakes up, I'm going to be so dog gone tired I won't be able to hear her," Carter replied.  
  
  
  
Want a bet? Within an hour, Thorn got up, went over to the sterio system and shook up the entire building.  
  
Carter and Lee came out of the bedroom with their forefingers in their ears, Lee started yelling, but his voice couldn't be heard over the music.  
  
  
  
"Thorn! You've gotta turn that music down, it's too loud!" Lee yelled.  
  
"What?"   
  
  
  
"The music is too loud! You've gotta turn it down!" Lee repeated.  
  
"Sorry Lee, I can't hear you, I've gotta turn the music down," Thorn replied. "Now what is it?"  
  
  
  
"Thorn, do you ever rest?" Carter asked.  
  
"Sometimes, when I feel like it," Thorn answered.  
  
  
  
"Yeah whatever, look, if you don't mind we'd like to keep things down to a dull roar," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry, you guys won't bug me," Thorn replied.  
  
"That's not what we meant Thorn," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"I know, I know, but hey, I gotta have a sense of humor you know," Thorn returned.  
  
  
  
"Look, we've gotta go talk to the police for a few minutes, can you stay out of trouble for a while?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"Sure, and if I'm lying, may I be your next partner in the LAPD," Thorn said to Carter.  
  
"I guess we can trust you with that promise," Carter said.  
  
  
  
Lee and Carter left, and Thorn cranked the music back up again.  
  
"Listen Captain Turmoil, Thorn is anything but normal," Carter explained at the office.  
  
  
  
"She's also anything but stupid Carter, you check her police record, she hasn't even gotten one yet. But if she did, it would be marked with arson, disturbing the peace, robbery, domestic behavior, and weapon possession. She has burnt down 68 public schools, 56 police stations, 11 homes, 27 hospitals and 38 buildings all in the past four years. And all because there were people she didn't like," Captain Turmoil said.  
  
  
  
Carter took out a pad of paper and a pen, he decided to do the math.  
  
"11 homes  
  
+27 hospitals  
  
+38 buildings  
  
+56 police stations  
  
+68 public schools  
  
=200 properties destroyed," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"And each place's owner had filed $100,000 for the damage," Turmoil added.  
  
"What? $20,000,000 for what a teenager did?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"And that's not all of it, then there's the medical bills of all the people she's injured. She's thrashed and choked and slapped 70 cops, 85 schoolteachers, 275 gang members, 38 college jocks, 48 irresponsible parents, and she attempted shooting one man just for smoking," Turmoil said.   
  
  
  
"That's just crazy! Truly psychotic," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Exactly what we said," Turmoil replied.  
  
"Look, Captain, I don't know if I can have a destructive delinquent in my house," Carter realized.  
  
  
  
"Carter, you remember what Hojun said, if we do not take this case, we're fired," Lee said.  
  
  
  
Carter sighed, they agreed to keep an eye on Thorn, so they rushed back to the apartment and found a note on the door. It read 'Looking for me? Try the exact door down the hall'. Taking the note seriously, Carter and Lee checked out the apartment across the hall from them. Lee started knocking on the door, but then he wound up knocking on Thorn's nose.  
  
  
  
"Hey! What is it?"  
  
"What is it?" Lee asked.  
  
  
  
"What is it? Nothing," Carter looked behind him.  
  
"Nothing, we'll see you later," Lee said.  
  
"Hold it!" Cater said.  
  
"What?" Thorn asked.  
  
"What are you doing over here?" Lee asked.  
  
"Shoot, I'm staying over here until Leaboo's butt is in jail, I figure, two---six years max," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, the whole reason why we were looking for you's because you've gotta stay with us," Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Allright, just give me some time to move my stuff back in," Thorn said.  
  
"Good, and in the mean time, Lee and I'll bamboozle some grub, Lee, go get a bottle," Carter told him.  
  
  
  
Lee started off on one foot, but his other one stopped immediately.  
  
"You know how hard it is to get a bottle in these towns," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"Soda you dumbass," Carter said.  
  
"Ohhhhhhhh," Lee replied.  
  
  
  
"You get the soda, I'll get a pizza," Carter said.  
  
"And I'll get a frying pan ready for Leaboo's men when he sends them up," Thorn added.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, let's get going Lee," Carter said.  
  
  
  
By the time they got back, it had gotten extremely dark, Carter opened the door a crack to get his hand through. He felt for the light switch, he found it, but it was dead. He and Lee stomped in and looked around, the rooms were dark, and everything had been trashed, but then they saw a light in the back room, they decided to check it out. Thorn was in the room with a gun in her hand, she had it cocked and was ready to fire.  
  
  
  
"Hey, what's going on in here?" Carter asked, walking in.  
  
Too late, Thorn had pulled the trigger, Carter fell to the floor as a suction cup dart hit the wall, Lee came in laughing at Carter's misery.  
  
  
  
"Tha's funny, you scared of a toy gun," Lee laughed.  
  
He wasn't laughing for long either, when Thorn pulled the trigger again, he dropped to the floor too, another dart hit the wall.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, what is the idea of this? We thought someone had broke in here," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"I decided to have a little fun, so I took out my dart gun," Thorn replied.  
  
  
  
She took it out, it was a bright green plastic dart gun with a black lever in the back for installing darts. Carter was starting to get fed up with her, and blurted out the first somewhat bright idea he'd had all day.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, go take a bath," Carter said.  
  
"Allright," Thorn put her gun away, "where's the washing machine?"  
  
  
  
"Over there," Lee pointed.  
  
"That's gotta be the cleanest juvenile delinquent I've ever seen," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Maybe, I think we better keep a close eye on her tonight," Lee added.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose, hey that reminds me, when we came in, what happened to the anchovy pizza?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Uh Carter," Lee looked up.  
  
"Don't 'Uh Carter' me, I want an answer and I want it now," Carter said.  
  
  
  
He got it, the pizza fell off the ceiling and onto him.  
  
"Man, I hate anchovies in my hair!" Carter complained.  
  
  
  
After Carter spent half an hour getting anchovies and pizza sauce out of his hair, Lee decided to find something else to do, so he went to do his laundry. He took his dirty clothes out of the basket, and opened the lid, he realized that the washer was already full of water and suds. He reached down into it and felt something, he pulled the object up and realized it was Thorn!  
  
  
  
"Thorn! What are you doing in the washer?  
  
  
  
"I'm taking a bath just like Carter told me to do, what're you doing?" she asked.  
  
"I'm trying to do my laundry," Lee yelled.  
  
  
  
"Well then you'll have to wait a while, I'm on a light load at the moment," Thorn replied.  
  
  
  
"No kidding, Carter!" Lee yelled.  
  
"What is it now, Lee?" Carter asked, rushing in.  
  
  
  
"You told Thorn to take a bath, and she's in the washing machine," Lee exclaimed.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, and these razor blades are dull," Thorn added.  
  
"Thorn, step out of the washer right now, right now!" Carter told her.  
  
  
  
"Fine," Thorn stepped out in a baggy T-shirt and large surfing shorts, with flippers on her feet.  
  
  
  
"Well now ain't that a sight to see?" Carter asked.  
  
"I don't know, is it?" Thorn asked.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, get out of this gear and get ready for a whooping," Carter said.  
  
"Forget it, I'm not going anywhere and that's that," Thorn replied.  
  
  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
  
  
"You two need a room?" Lee asked.  
  
"Shutup, Lee!" they said.  
  
  
  
"Allright, that does it, go put on some regular clothes, and I'm going to see to it that you ain't going anywhere, do you hear me?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I understand," Thorn replied.  
  
"Good, now get," Carter said.  
  
  
  
Thorn took off like the wind, of course it helped once she got her flippers off.  
  
End of chapter 4 


	5. Rush Hour 3 & 12, chapter 5

"Carter, why are you being so mean to her today? She did nothing to you Tuesday, last night, or today, that you should be this mad at her," Lee realized.  
  
  
  
"I've got my reasons for being strict with her, Lee, you don't see me pulling a belt on her, or whooping her till she can't walk. But that kid gets on my damn nerves all the time, she drives me crazy," Carter replied.  
  
  
  
"Carter, she did nothing to you that you would not have done to her," Lee told him.  
  
  
  
"Exactly why I'm mad at her, because I didn't get a chance to do anything to her, now, clean this mess up, and comb your tongue, and don't let me catch her in the washing machine again," Carter screamed.  
  
  
  
"Stop screaming at me!" Lee yelled.  
  
"I'm not screaming!" Carter walked away.  
  
  
  
A short while later, Thorn came back in the room.  
  
  
  
"Well, are you through playing cowboys and Indians or what?" Thorn asked.   
  
  
  
"That does it, go to bed!" Carter yelled.  
  
"Only if you do too!" Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"Carter, it's the only way," Lee said.  
  
"Allright, allright, but you better not try anything in the middle of the night," Carter told her.  
  
  
  
"Deal."  
  
The next morning, Lee came out of his room looking mad.  
  
  
  
"Why're you so steamed, Lee?" Carter asked.  
  
"Because, last night, you slept like an offspring, I stayed up half the night with Thorn watching 'American Gladiators'," Lee explained, "she decided to try everything she saw on me. And furthermore, everything, was going fine, until the joust."  
  
  
  
"The joust? What the hell's a joust?" Carter asked.  
  
"Joust is----when two people stand on pedestals and try to throw each other off by using poles," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"Well then we don't have a problem, we don't have pedestals," Carter laughed.  
  
"That may be true, but we do have a fire escape," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"You mean Thorn threw you out onto the fire escape?"  
  
"Not on it, Carter, down it, she pushed me down the steps, and I started rolling, and you know we're twenty stories up," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Oof, so you rolled down 40,000 steps?" Carter asked.  
  
"Not exactly, I came to a short stop when the fire escape broke. So, I jump onto window, I ask lady if I can come in, she slaps me with wet towel and call me 'Peeping Tom'. I know no Peeping Tom. So, I jump over to next window, I ask I can come in, lady throws bucket of water on me. Then I jump over to the next window, I ask if I can come in, lady puts kitty kat out for the night.  
  
"So, I jump over to building ledge, and climb up rain gutter until rain gutter break, then I climb up building wall by pulling out bricks. Which is why you now have nice draft and view, in the east wing of the building," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Well hello, Lee, how're you today?" Thorn asked.  
  
"Thorn, remind me never to joust with you again," Lee told her.  
  
  
  
"If you insist, spoil sport," she replied.  
  
"Thorn."  
  
  
  
"Okay, Carter, now that you know what I did with your little Asian friend, I'm ready for ya, go ahead and start yelling, I'm waiting," Thorn said, holding her shoe as if ready to throw it.  
  
  
  
"Now look, Thorn, Lee told about what you did last night, how you threw him down the fire escape and he went from window to window to ledge, up the broken rain gutter, and pulled down the bricks. Nice going back there."   
  
  
  
"Run that by me again?" Thorn threw down her shoe.  
  
"I have been trying to get back at Lee for so many things in the past few months you would not believe! And you---------clear out of the blue, come and do a thing like this, it's brilliant!" Carter laughed.  
  
  
  
"Does this mean you don't hate me?" Thorn asked.  
  
"Hate you?" Carter asked, "I love you!"  
  
  
  
Carter picked Thorn up off her feet and gave her a real wet kiss on the cheek.  
  
  
  
"Patooey! The last time I got a kiss like that was when I ran into a lovesick jaguar," Thorn spitted.  
  
  
  
"Carter, Hojun wants us to meet him again, and bring Thorn along too," Lee said.  
  
  
  
So, Carter, Lee, and Thorn went out to Carter's car, hopped in and took off.  
  
"I don't get it, why'd Hojun have to move his hideaway to somewhere else?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"That way, if Leaboo found them out, they could continue their research without having their equipment blown up," Thorn explained.  
  
"  
  
Yeah, and that's also a good way to avoid getting your brains blown out of your head as well," Carter added. Out of the blue, a car going the other way on the street nearly collided with them, Carter stuck his head out and yelled, "watch it punk bitch before I run you over!"   
  
  
  
"Carter, slow down or we'll get run over!" Thorn yelled.  
  
Carter parked the car and got out to head to the hideaway, Lee stopped in the middle of the street on top of a manhole cover.  
  
"There it is," Lee pointed.  
  
  
  
"We're going to the sewer?" Carter asked.  
  
"Not exactly," Thorn lifted the manhole cover and started to climb down, Lee and Carter followed.  
  
  
  
As soon as they reached the bottom of the ladder, bright blue lights lit the path to Hojun.  
  
  
  
"What's the report on Leaboo?" Thorn asked.  
  
"So far, we have not been able to catch him, furthermore to make things worse, no one has seen him since yesterday, we fear he might be closer than we think, but we are not sure," Hojun explained.  
  
  
  
Lee watched the expression on Hojun's face, he knew something was up, which did not involve Thorn being there.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, go wait in the next room, we'll catch up in a minute," Lee told her.  
  
  
  
After Thorn left, Hojun had a word with Carter and Lee.  
  
"Keep an eye on her until we get this thing blown over, don't let her out of your sight. Leaboo's up to something, I know because when he plots something, he lays low for a while. So obviously he's working on something, otherwise we wouldn't have been this fortunate to go through a day without an injury," Hojun explained.  
  
  
  
"Do not worry, we'll keep an eye on her," Lee returned.  
  
"There's only one thing I wanna know," Carter brought up.  
  
  
  
"What's that?" Hojun asked.  
  
"How come she's blue if she's sun burnt?" Carter returned.  
  
  
  
"Follow me, I will show you," Hojun said.  
  
Hojun led them into another room, it was filled with a bunch of odd looking items.  
  
  
  
"So what's all this?" Carter asked.  
  
Carter and Lee turned to face a wall and saw an old film dated a few years back.  
  
  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"This is the reason as to why Thorn appears the way she does to you," Hojun answered.  
  
  
  
On the screen, in the film, Leaboo came after Thorn and her father, Professor Strong. Leaboo choked the professor and threw him down thirty feet against the hard metal floor of the laboratory he was working in, killing him instantly. Then he went after Thorn, chasing her around the laboratory, she put up an extreme fight.  
  
  
  
"So this is the deal? Moby Dick killed her father and tried to kill her?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"She was eight years old at the time, she knew what he was up to and tried to escape," Hojun said.  
  
They watched as Leaboo shoved Thorn off the fourth floor and into a vat of lye.  
  
  
  
"What's this?" Lee asked.  
  
"That toxic contains many deadly chemicals, she survived somehow. But because of the many after effects they contain, it left a mark on her, scarring her for life. Every time she gets burnt, the area turns bright blue, so he could find her to track her down and kill her. And now, today, he has tried again, the man sitting in the passenger side of Leaboo's car was his half brother Spark. Somehow, Thorn managed to figure out how to do away with him, Leaboo hired him as a hit man to kill all three of you. But obviously she caught on faster than to be expected," Hojun explained.  
  
  
  
"Anything else we should know about this Leaboo guy other than he's hazardous and an idiot?" Carter asked.  
  
  
  
"Yes, look out, he and his men carry a red toxic. It contains a rare acid, it will effect anything, but it will only eat away at human skin. So far this is no known way to make it harmless or minimize its effects, when the time came, Leaboo used it for his choice weapon on Thorn. But she managed to escape from him before it could hit, now, however, he will try again unless you stop him," Hojun said.  
  
  
  
"So I get it now, this whole thing's just a big game to Moby Dick," Carter realized.  
  
  
  
"Very good, now you understand your mission," Hojun said.  
  
"Yeah, I understand, I also understand I got some explaining to do, come on Lee, let's get Thorn and scram," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"We will return if anything else comes up," Lee said.  
  
"Come on Lee, I want to beat the rats to the top," Carter called.  
  
  
  
"You're crazy, there haven't been any rats down here for twelve years," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
After climbing up back onto the ground, night had already appeared, the sky was dark blue, the towns were full of bright lights off buildings, and traffic was busy everywhere.  
  
  
  
"I've been doing some thinking, if Leaboo knew where we all were at the same time, we'd probably be sitting ducks just waiting to be shot," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"That makes sense, so what you're saying is that two of us should go one way, and the other one of us should go in a different direction, and we'll all meet back at the apartment," Carter thought.  
  
  
  
"For once you're actually using your brain," Thorn laughed, "which is why I did a little hot-wiring."  
  
  
  
So, Carter and Thorn headed back one way and Lee headed the other way. Carter looked at Thorn from the rear view mirror, looking like she did the day she arrived, miserable.  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry, Thorn."  
  
"About what?"  
  
  
  
"Everything."  
  
"I don't understand," she replied.  
  
  
  
"I'm talking about everything I've been doing in the last two days, it was your first time here and all I did was treat you like shit."  
  
  
  
"My grandmother treats garbage better than that," she said.  
  
"Well look, Thorn, sometimes, when people get frustrated, they explode at kids at times and don't even realize it," Carter started.  
  
  
  
"Well why in the hell are you being so nasty to me? I never did anything that bad," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"You wanna know why?"   
  
"Yeah."  
  
  
  
"A ratty teenager killed my father," Carter said.  
  
"No."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, and back then, to both of us, teenagers were allright, but one day, my daddy was catching a fifteen-year-old punk speeding, pulled him over to give him a ticket. The punk shot him then and there, clear dead and in broad daylight, no one came to get the kid, so he ran free for a long time, if I had a chance to get even with that punk, I'd," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Man, no wonder you're steamed, now I know why you hate me, if a kid killed my father, I'd be hating me too," Thorn sighed.  
  
  
  
"I don't hate you, Thorn," Carter replied.  
  
"Oh yes you do, all those times you yelled in my eardrums like that," Thorn responded, slapping Carter in the back of the head.  
  
  
  
"Oof, well look, I'm sorry for yelling at you even though you never did anything," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Apology accepted, it's the first one I've gotten in three years," Thorn replied.  
  
"You know, Thorn? I think this could be a beautiful thing in disguise," Carter thought.  
  
  
  
"Pretty good disguise, if you ask me," she said.  
  
Carter looked in the mirror again and saw a car tailing behind them, it couldn't have been Lee, and the driver was closing in pretty fast, so---------------------Leaboo!  
  
  
  
"Shit, Thorn, duck down," he said.  
  
"What?"  
  
  
  
"Duck down, someone's tailing in," he said.  
  
Thorn flattened herself down in the back of the car as the driver closed in, the driver was closing in on the side. He pulled out a handgun and aimed at Carter's head, but without taking his eyes off the road, Carter pulled out one of his guns and fired the man in the hand.  
  
  
  
"Now that's gonna be nasty tomorrow morning," Thorn said.  
  
Not long after losing the hitman, Carter parked the car in the residents' parking lot. They managed to get home with their lives in tact, now hopefully they could say the same for Lee. 


	6. Rush Hour 3 & 12, chapter 6

Chapter 5  
  
"Boy oh boy, it don't look like nobody' home, I wonder if Lee's back yet," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Just pulled in, look," Thorn pointed.  
  
"Don't point, don't you know that's not polite?"  
  
  
  
"What do you care? It's 12:00 at night, everything's dark," she replied.  
  
At that, Lee came from around the corner of the building to face them.  
  
"Carter, one of Leaboo's men cut me off on the road and tried to kill me," Lee informed.  
  
  
  
"I know, the same thing happened to us," Carter replied.  
  
"I don't think it's safe to be here anymore," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, they've already been shot, what more trouble can they do?" Thorn asked.  
  
  
  
"Besides, they'd be expecting us to leave, as long as we're up here, we're safe," Carter said, as they got off the elevator.  
  
  
  
"I say we stay up here, we can watch to see if anyone's coming," Thorn suggested.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, Lee and I need to talk in private," Carter said.  
  
"Fine, I'll go into the living room and watch the late, late, late early show," Thorn said sarcastically.  
  
  
  
"Lee, I can't say the same for you, but we can't take a chance on leaving Thorn alone anymore than necessary," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"I'm aware, Carter, but if we take her everyplace we do, Leaboo will catch on," Lee replied.  
  
  
  
While they had their conversation, Thorn was in the living room watching 'Bat & Brawl', an old 3 Stooge cartoon, set back during the French Revolution. The 3 Stooges were soldiers, keeping a top-secret message away from a vampire, Count Duncula.  
  
  
  
"Ow! He got me on the ear!" Curly Joe exclaimed.  
  
Thorn watched as Duncula bit and flew away with the message in his teeth.  
  
  
  
"Hey Thorn! We're gonna, what is this?" Carter asked.  
  
"Channel 47 is having an all night vampire marathon," Thorn replied.  
  
  
  
Carter turned to face Thorn and almost fell down laughing, she was standing on her head upside-down on the couch, with her arms spread out like vampire wings.  
  
  
  
"Whatever, I think all this commotion's got you batty," Carter said.  
  
Carter left into the next room to talk with Lee, just as he did, a hand reached for Thorn from behind the curtains. However, she already noticed it, she screamed loud enough for Carter and Lee to hear her. They rushed into the living room to see her fighting with a man three times her own size, Carter picked up a lamp and bashed him over the head with it.  
  
  
  
However, it hardly effected him at all, he started yelling at them, but while he was doing that, Thorn sneaked up behind him and bit him on the neck, just like a vampire. The man gasped and dropped to the floor, dead, possibly.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, what do you think you're doing?" Carter asked.  
  
Thorn spit out two of her teeth, or so it seemed, Lee picked them up and realized what they were.  
  
  
  
"These look like transparent gel teeth, what they're used for I don't know," he explained.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, what's the deal?" Carter asked.  
  
"Carter, look!" Thorn yelled.  
  
  
  
Carter's eyes bugged out as the man's body dissolved, starting with the bite marks on his neck, until it completely dissolved, leaving a metal skeleton.  
  
"He was a robot?"   
  
  
  
"Leaboo seeks my demise through every trick in the book, even this stuff...Artificial skin was used to cover his metal body, therefore, people would assume he's human. But, the acid will eat away at just about any skin," Thorn explained.  
  
  
  
"Thorn, you mean, you already knew about the acid?" Lee asked.  
  
"Yeah, I managed to get ahold of some of it, and implanted it in the teeth, Hojun's men sometimes invent new weapons and other equipment for self defense, especially since Leaboo came around. Normally they're used for injecting arsenic or something...I bite down on someone's skin, and the acid is injected into them...it's very dangerous, but I figured, if anyone got near me, I'd bite them, and...anyway I better go get something to clean up this mess," Thorn left.  
  
Carter eyed Lee that he got the point, he was to follow her and make sure that nothing else happened. Meanwhile, Carter got to work in disposing of the titanium steel body.   
  
  
  
Thorn approached a small storage room down on the first floor, and went through all the bottled liquids and chemicals kept there, and one by one, she pitched them.  
  
  
  
"Cooking fat, *toss* glue remover, *toss* whip cream, *toss* perfume, *toss* phooey."  
  
  
  
Little did Thorn know however, that while Lee was watching her behind a shelf, someone outside of the room was carrying a bottle of the red acid, the lid had been removed and was ready to be thrown.  
  
  
  
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, trizoac acid, nope."  
  
Thorn tossed the bottle of acid and it hit the red bottle, smashing it right on the man's hand, he screamed and ran away.  
  
  
  
"What was that?" Thorn turned around.  
  
"Someone was trying to kill you with acid, but when you threw the trizoic acid, he ran because both bottles smashed on his hand," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Lee, you moron! Don't you know what trizoic acid does? It blows up! Why in the hell didn't it do it just now!?" Thorn asked.  
  
"I don't know, but the main thing is, he's gone now," Lee told her.  
  
Great, now what'll we do?" Thorn asked.  
  
"Follow me."  
  
  
  
"Where're we going?"  
  
"Doctor."  
  
  
  
"I don't need no doctor, Lee," Thorn replied.  
  
"No but you will," Lee returned.  
  
  
  
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Thorn said.  
  
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"You always say that and you're never right," Thorn replied.  
  
"So? Something right has to happen to me sooner or later," Lee said.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, well the day that happens to you is the day I bite--"   
  
With that, Thorn got conked out by a falling light, she later woke up in what looked like a hospital. Struggling to get up, she saw two syringes filled with a liquid, at first she assumed it was acid, but there was a bottle next to her full of it, it read, DEMORAL. Jittery by the sight of it, Thorn threw the bottle into the air, causing it to crash on the floor, a masked doctor walked in.   
  
  
  
"Hey doc, what am I in for?" Thorn asked.  
  
  
  
"You're in because you got knocked out by a falling object two days ago," he replied.  
  
  
  
"Two days? Man, it sure seems like longer than that," Thorn said.  
  
The doctor went over to Thorn's bed and placed one hand on her head to flatten her down.  
  
  
  
"What're you doing?" she asked.  
  
"Relax, I'm going to give you an injection that will help you rest," he said.  
  
  
  
Thorn eyed the needle and realized it was the Demoral, she kicked it out of his hand and screamed. Carter and Lee came rushing in through the door, Carter pulled out his gun and pointed it at the doctor while Lee helped Thorn out of the bed.  
  
  
  
They ran out in the middle of the hospital and started yelling, that got all the doctors, nurses, gurneys and wheelchairs out of the other room and into the main hallway. Carter took out his gun again and started yelling in a foreign language to the nurses. The three rushed out into the middle of rush hour traffic and dove into their car to getaway. Lee put the key in the ignition, and they tore out of there.  
  
  
  
"You know what, Carter?" Thorn asked.  
  
"What?  
  
  
  
"I didn't know you spoke Portuguese."  
  
"I don't," Carter realized.  
  
  
  
"I can vouch for that, he just told the nurses to 'go out in the street during traffic, and yell 'chicken'!" Lee replied.  
  
  
  
"Where'd you learn how to speak Portuguese?" Carter asked.  
  
"I took it up in night school," Lee explained.  
  
  
  
"Never mind, let's just get out of here before we're blown all over the street," Thorn said.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, we can kill each other later," Carter added.  
  
"Well, let's go," Lee said, making a right turn.  
  
Lee parked the car and they headed up to their apartment, Carter noticed Thorn seemed unbalanced and lightheaded.  
  
"Thorn, what the hell all happened in the hospital? One of the damn doctors mess you up or something?" Carter asked.  
  
"I don't know...how long was I even there?" Thorn quietly asked.  
  
"A couple of hours, we were in the waiting room expecting the doctor to ex'plain your condition," Lee started.  
  
"Then we heard you screaming and went in to see what the hell was going on," Carter said.  
  
"He must've been one of Leaboo's men, he was trying to put me under with Demoral," Thorn explained.  
  
As Thorn seated herself on the couch to rest, the phone rang and Carter answered, it was Hojun, he needed to speak with them again, but this time they couldn't bring Thorn. Carter agreed and told him he and Lee would arrive shortly, then he hung up.   
  
"Who was 'dat?" Lee asked.  
  
"Hojun, we have to see him again, he said to keep you here, so stay out of trouble if possible, Thorn," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Are you kidding? You sound as if you don't trust me," she replied.  
  
"We don't!"  
  
  
  
Thorn quickly became unsteady and passed out, hitting the floor in her fall, Carter picked her up while Lee rambled on like the idiot he was.  
  
  
  
"What do we do?" he asked.  
  
"Go get a bottle," Carter said.  
  
  
  
"Right," Lee took off on one foot and spun back around on the other. "Hey, you know how hard it is to get a bottle in this town," Lee said.  
  
"Water ya idiot," Carter replied.  
  
  
  
"Ohhhhhhhh," Lee said.  
  
Thorn slowly started moving and finally opened her eyes, "Forget the water," Thorn said, "make it a 96, on the rocks."  
  
  
  
"What?" Carter asked.  
  
Thorn laid rested against Carter, she started shaking and mumbling in obvious confusion.  
  
"Ohhhhhhhh, mammy, it's your dear boy Sammy, coming home from Alabamy, so put on those eggs and hammy, don't flim flam me mammy," Thorn muttered.  
  
  
  
"Give me that bottle of water," Carter said.  
  
Lee went into the kitchen and came back out with a bottle of ice-water, and handed it to Carter. He took the bottle and poured it on Thorn, she jumped for the ceiling.  
  
"Carter!" she screamed, "What the hell was that for!?!"   
  
"To get you back to normal, if that's even possible," Carter replied, "Did it work?"  
  
Thorn dropped down from the ceiling and back on her feet, "I...guess so...thanks."  
  
"Maybe that doctor did screw with you in the hospital," Lee said.  
  
Carter and Thorn stared at Lee with confused glares.  
  
"Not like that!" Lee said, realizing what they thought, "you know what I mean!"  
  
"I don't think he did," Thorn replied, "I'm just tired...I just want to lay down and....oh....."  
  
"What?" Carter asked.  
  
"Nothing, I just remembered how that sentence usually ended...and I don't want to die anytime soon," Thorn replied.  
  
"So Thorn, do you think you can stay here alone for a while and not cause any trouble?" Carter asked.  
  
"What do I look like, Dennis the Menace? I'll be fine, you two go on, see what Hojun needs, come back, and we'll put together a plan for Leaboo, now go on, get going," Thorn said as she tried shoving them out of the door.  
  
"Allright, we'll go, just remember, stay out of trouble!" Carter said.  
  
"Or else what?" Thorn asked.  
  
"What do you mean or else what?" Carter asked.  
  
"What will you do if I don't?" Thorn asked.  
  
"Thorn, if you get into any more trouble today, I'll introduce you to the rest of the LAPD when I get back!" Carter said.  
  
Recently, everyone back there had become an extreme pain in the ass according to Carter, so he knew someone like Thorn would go crazy if she had to be around them.  
  
"Yeah...then I won't!" Thorn said.  
  
"Good," Carter said.  
  
"Fine," Thorn replied.  
  
"Fine," Carter repeated.  
  
"Good!" Thorn slammed the door in Carter and Lee's faces.  
  
"Well, now that that's settled, let's go see what Hojun wants," Carter said. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Carter and Lee woke up and found themselves in a large, bright room, and they found themselves chained to the wall.

"Carter!" Lee shouted as everything came into focus.

"What is it now, Lee?" Carter asked.

"How did we get into this mess?"

"We went to see Hojun, and, damn, that's all I remember," Carter recalled.

"Where the hell are we?" Lee asked.

Carter looked around and didn't know what to make of their surroundings. There were gurneys covered in dry blood, piles of old bones, discarded rusted pipes, and vats of lye and other concoctions.

"Shit, how the hell are we going to get out of here?" Carter asked.

Carter looked up and saw their wrists were constrained by old handcuffs, in fact they looked ready to fall apart if giving the right jerk. Lee did the same and his cuffs broke and his stepped down, Carter struggled in his, writhing in the cuffs, while Lee came to a conclusion.

"Now I remember," Lee said, "we went to see Hojun, and Leaboo's men knocked us out."

"Oh really?" Carter asked as the cuffs broke, "I never would've guessed."

"Somehow he must have convinced us that he was Hojun so we would leave"

"THORN!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Shit, Leaboo probably has her by now!" Carter said, "Shit, what do we do now?"

They heard a loud, female, almost inhuman scream submerge from somewhere among their surroundings.

"It's Thorn! She's alive!" Lee said.

"But for how long?" Carter asked, "We've got to get out of here and find her!"

They soon realized that the problem was coming to them, they heard two heavy sets of footsteps from above, then slowly made their way down, all the while associated with Thorn's screams.

"They're coming down here, we've got to act fast," Lee said.

"How?" Carter realized that sometime during his blackout, his gun had been removed from his pocket.

The door opened, and Thorn was led in by a tall man with bruises all over his neck and around his eyes, and Thorn had a gash on her forehead and several gashes, bruises, and burn marks on her body.

"Carter!" she cried.

"Shut up!" the man said as he shoved her in, and locked the door behind him.

"Thorn!"

"Carter!"

"Shut up!"

The man struck Thorn with his fist, knocking her down, and she slid across the room until she hit her head on the wheels of a gurney. She ran her hands over the back of her head, then on her forehead and down her face, which by now was stained with blood and tears.

"Carter!" she pitifully cried again.

Carter ran over to Thorn and knelt beside her, she held out her arms for him to help her up.

"Oh shit, Thorn," he said as he observed the damage done to her.

"Carter!" she choked on a sob.

"Shut up!" the man said, "Leaboo will have his way with you before this is over. And you better obey him."

"Man, shut the hell up with that bullshit!" Carter said, "You gone and done all this to her, she has a right to scream by now, I'm damn surprised she hadn't broken the windows to this damn place."

Carter picked Thorn up and held her in his arms against his chest as his eyes scanned every angle of the room they were in, looking for a way out. It seemed their best choice was to kill the man and steal his keys.

"You say that now," the man said, "just wait until Leaboo gets down here. I'll be glad to report this to him."

"Too bad you won't have that chance," Lee came up to the man and kicked him in the chest.

The man fell back against the wall and pulled out his gun and fired at Lee, who dodged every bullet. When the man fired the last bullet, he threw the gun at Lee, who dodged that too, and picked up it when it hit the ground. The man threw himself at Lee and pinned him to the ground, and started beating him.

Carter leaned Thorn against the wall and stood up, "Stay here," he said as he went over to them. Carter picked the man off Lee and punched him in the face, sending him back. Lee got up and went at him again, but the man grabbed him and threw him at Carter, knocking both of them onto the ground. Lee and Carter looked up and saw the man standing over them when something jabbed him in the gut. Thorn was standing across him with one of the pipes in hand and swung at him. He missed it and ran towards the wall and picked up another pipe and matched her swing for swing.

Suddenly the tables turned and the man started forcing Thorn back, she kept retreating until she got to a beam leading up to near the ceiling, and the man followed. Soon, Thorn found herself at a dead end, below her was a vat of acid, the same red acid that was almost used on her yesterday. Thorn found herself trapped, she was between the henchman and the acid, with no way out.

Lee and Carter got up and tried to get up to the beam to help her, but by that time, it was too late. The man swung and Thorn jumped, missing it. The man stepped forward to strike her again and instead she shoved him with her pipe and he fell into the acid.

"Oh shit!" Carter said as they watched the man's flash eaten away by the acid.

"What do you know?" Lee asked, "'Is just like the joust on American Gladiators."

"Carter!" Thorn pitifully screamed.

"It's okay, Thorn, he's dead now, you can come on down, and we'll get the hell out of here," Carter said.

"Carter behind you!"

Carter heard a gun fire and a body fall to the ground, he turned around and saw Lee on the floor with his hand on his chest, and Leaboo entering the room.

"Well, well, well," Carter said, "if it ain't Mister Big Ol' Nasty Ass, still taking pleasure in hurting a little kid?"

"Carter!" Lee gasped, "don't be an idiot."

"It ends here," Leaboo said.

"You're damn right it is," Carter said.

Before Carter could do anything else, he heard the gun fire again, and this time, he fell to the floor.

"Shit," he hissed.

Leaboo removed the cartridge from his gun and put in another as he laughed, "Six years ago, I killed Professor Strong, now you two. It only makes sense, anyone who's cared for that girl ends up dead. She's simply a curse, and there's only one way to end a curse," he said as he stared at Thorn, who was now across the room from him, "sever its life."

"You're a sickass dude, you know that?" Carter asked.

He didn't have time to answer, a bullet entered his chest and went out through his back and he fell on the floor, his gun fell beside him and his eyelids closed.

Carter and Lee looked over and saw Thorn holding a smoking, very much real gun, painted bright green, exactly like her dart gun.

Sirens were heard and through the windows above blue lights were seen, Thorn ran over to Lee and Carter, "Carter, my God, are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think we got lucky this time," Carter said, "how about you, Lee?"

Lee lowered his hand from his chest, revealing no sign of injury or penetration from a bullet, or even blood for that matter. The bullet had missed him, but he still had open injuries from the fight.

"We got damn lucky this time," Lee said.

"And now, it's all over," Carter said, "all this shit over one emerald, and we don't have the slightest idea where in hell it is."

"Yes we do, Thorn has it," Lee said.

"No I don't," Thorn said as she lowered her gun.

"Yes you do," Lee said as he clutched the gun, "right inside your gun."

The bodies were taken to the morgue, and Carter, Lee, and Thorn were rushed to the hospital. While they were there, Thorn explained that Hojun had given her the gun with the emerald placed in the handle, so she had been carrying it on her all along, and she had confided in Lee that she was carrying the emerald the entire time.

It was also revealed that when they had left to see Hojun, he had called them down to the hideout, but Leaboo caught them first, then while they were unconscious, he had gone to their apartment and kidnapped here. Then while they were locked in the room down below, she was kept in another room very similar, and Leaboo had left, leaving a henchman in charge, he demanded the location to the emerald, but when she refused to tell him, he beat her severely. In fact, when she was taken down to the room Lee and Carter were in, she was being taken down there to either finally divulge the emerald's location, or die.

Carter and Lee were both recovering when Hojun came in. "So, how are L.A.'s two top officers doing?"

"You mean I'm still in the L.A.P.D. after all this?" Carter huffed.

"And how, I spoke to your employers this morning, and they all agreed to keep you, considering you unraveled a case that's been going on for six years with no success until now," he said.

"Wonderful," Carter said.

"And Lee."

"Yeah?"

"You'll be happy to know that your services are still desired in Hong Kong."

"Oh good, I'll be going back soon."

"Before you do that," Thorn said, "after you guys get out of here, could I take you to my home town first? Before we have to go our separate ways?"

"Sure, why the hell not?" Carter asked, "I've been halfway around the globe by now, one more vacation shouldn't hurt."

"Good, I'll go speak with the doctor and see how long you'll be staying, then I'll be able to catch the next flight going out around that time."

Thorn left the room and headed down the hall. Hojun went over to Carter's bed, "You do realize of course that now she'll need someone to look after her."

"Yeah…you see if you can find a good place for her to stay," Carter said, "I don't care how many injuries she's cost me, Leaboo was wrong as hell, she's not a curse."

"Well we'll have to see about relocating her with someone during the next few weeks, and if it turns out we can't find anybody, we may have to put her in a foster home," Hojun said. "But I'm not going to tell her that now, I'll let you three recover, then go on your trip, then find a way to tell her when you get back."

Carter, Thorn and Lee were released from the hospital after making a recovery in what seemed to be record time. They were at the airport waiting for their flight when Hojun showed up.

"Hey Hojun, what's happening?" Carter asked.

"It's all over, the emerald is back in its rightful location, Leaboo is buried, and the case is officially closed. Just some minor paperwork from here on out," Hojun took out a few papers, one with several lines at the bottom, "I just need you two to sign here."

Lee and Carter put their signatures down on the paper.

"Hey man, it's too bad about Thorn and all, not having anyone to look after her now," Carter said.

"Oh we found her a home."

"You did?" Lee asked.

"Yep, she seems very happy about it too."

"I hope it's with someone who likes her," Carter said.

"Believe me, it is," Hojun said as he put the papers into his pocket and walked off.

Thorn walked back to Carter and Lee, "We'll be boarding soon, and Carter, I'm sorry about ruining your vacation here."

"You gotta be kidding me, this trip out here has been one of the best times in my life."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so don't worry about it, everything's a'ight between us. Ain't that right, Lee?"

"It certainly has been something," Lee said, "but I don't think the police back in Hong Kong will believe me when I tell them what happened."

"No problem, take me back with you, I'll tell them exactly how it went," Thorn told him.

"Well Thorn, you certainly did give us a very interesting vacation," Lee said, "we certainly won't forget our stay in New York."

"That's good to know," Thorn said.

"Hey Thorn, Hojun told me about your new family, congratulations," Carter said.

"You mean it?" Thorn asked.

"Yeah."

"Good, because now I have something to say," Thorn said.

"What's that?" Carter asked.

Thorn threw herself into Carter's arms and yelled, "Daddy!" and planted a long, wet kiss on his cheek.

Lee stood beside him and laughed, "Congratulations, Carter."

"Ah, Daddy #2!" Thorn moved from Carter to Lee and kissed him on the cheek as well.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean?" Carter asked.

"I told Hojun that I didn't want to live with anyone else, I wanted to live with you two, I know you like me," Thorn said.

"Well you can't argue with that," Lee said.

"True. Okay, I don't know how we're going to pull this off, but I'm sure we'll find a way."

"Thank you Carter," Thorn said as she jumped back into his arms and put hers around his neck, "I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just don't say that for everyone to hear, they might think we're a bunch of damn perverts," Carter said.

"Come on, we better get going if we want to catch our flight," Thorn said as she got down.

They grabbed their bags and boarded the plane, took their seats and within a few minutes, they took off.

"So you live in Berlin?" Carter asked.

"No, but this was the only flight heading out anywhere near my hometown," Thorn said, "you know Carter, I think you'll like it there. The women back home are dying to meet a nice man like you."

"Oh yeah? Where do you live?" Carter asked.

"Transylvania."

"WHAT!!?" Carter exclaimed.


End file.
